The Pack
by Aurora Piper
Summary: Boulder, Tyson, and Karli are three pups who found their way into the life of the wild dogs.
1. Characters

The Pack

• **Alpha**- **Fang**; a large, sleek, night-black male, with large canines and a short tail.

• **Beta**- **Jone**; a small female with a tan backside and white belly, with large ears and a short tail.

**Learner- Willow**

• **Healer****- Kesuk**; a small female with scruffy amber fur, missing part of tail. **Learner- Dust**

• **Fighters**-

• **Beast**; a large, black and tan male, with a stubby tail and sleek fur. **Learner-Alice**

• **Adolpha**; a large, white female with black spots and sleek fur, with a long tail. **Learner-Tyson**

• **Jonathan**; a white male with a brown spot over his eye, is missing part of his left ear, with sleek fur and a medium length tail.

• **Calypso**; a small female with long, black and white fur and a curled tail. **Learner- Raven**

• **Owen**; a small, fuzzy, brown and white male, with a stubby tail.

• **Casey**; a large, snow-white female with long, beautiful fur.

• **Amando**; a large, reddish-brown male, with long fur, who is missing part of his tail. **Learner- Boulder**

• **Hunters**-

• **Lacey**; a small, white-furred female.

• **Fabio**; a large male with a brown head and speckled body with brown patches. **Learner- Dawn**

• **Ian**; a sleek-furred brown male with black stripes and patches.

• **Palila**; a long furred female with a brown backside and white stomach.

• **Zulema**; a lengthy, short-legged male with sleek brown fur. **Learner- Sassy**

• **Moose**; a large, long-furred, black male. **Learner-Karli**

• **Learners**

• **Sassy**- a small, scruffy furred, black and white female. (hunter)

• **Dawn**- a small, sleek-furred tan female with a wrinkled face. (hunter)

• Willow- a small female with golden brown fur. (hunter)

• **Boulder**- a large, sleek-furred black male with wrinkles around muzzle. (fighter)

• **Raven**- a large, long-furred white and tan female. (fighter)

• **Tyson**- a large, long-furred white male. (fighter)

• **Alice**- a small, short-furred speckled gray male.(fighter)

• **Dust**- a large gray male with silver eyes.(healer)

• **Karli**- a very small gray female with brilliant green eyes. (hunter)

• **Pup Guardians** (former fighters or hunters that were injured enough that they can't work anymore)-

• **Qamar**; a large male with long white corded fur, blind in one eye.

• **Sara**; a tiny female with scruffy brown and black fur, with a painful bone cancer that slowly deteriorates the bone.

• **Dams**(females expecting or nursing pups)-

• **Ebony**; a small female with long brown fur, with black and white patches.

• **Beaumont**; a large female with long black fur.

• **Seniors**(former hunters and fighters, now retired)

• **Shep**; a white male with dark gray around his muzzle, he is the oldest pack member, completely deaf.

The Wolfs

**Alpha Male**- **Glowing Sun**; a large male with long, reddish brown fur

**Alpha Female**- **Splashing Pond**; a blue-gray female with a tightly curved tail

**Beta**- **White Pine**; a noble male with pale tan fur

**Yearling**:

• **Flying Eagle**; a spastic black male with a patch of white fur between his shoulder

• **Tan Grass**; a gangly brown male

• **Frost on Moss**; a gray male with large white paws

• **Bright Moon**; a pretty female with brilliant white fur

• **Silver Birch**; a tall female with long, silver fur

• **Red Fox**; a small, clever female with a bright pelt

**Juveniles**:

• **Black Crow**; a loud-mouthed black male

• **Little Fawn**; a quiet tan female with small white spots

• **Orca**; a large gray and white female

• **Lichen**; a timid dark brown male

• **Black Bear**; a black female with a brown muzzle and ears

**Pups**:

• **Storm Cloud**; a dark and light gray marbled female

• **Honey Flower**; a light golden-brown female

• **Star Shadow**; a male with bright black and white fur

• **Snake**; a small male with a brown pelt

**Scapegoat**: **Whisper Face**; sly gray male with a sniveling expression

DOGS OUTSIDE THE PACK

• **Marten**- a small male with reddish fur lives in an Ieuk den.

Ieuk means human being in InupiaQ.


	2. Chapter 1

Prologue

A full moon glowed on the river, turning the churning waters silver. The silence was only broken by the bubbling of the waters.

Out of the darkness, a bright set of headlights sped along a lonely dirt road. As it neared the bank of the river, the car slowed, and a battered cardboard box was tossed out of the open passenger window, hitting the ground with a small yelp.

As the box hit the bank, it collapsed to reveal three starved puppies. The largest of the three was a white male soaked in so much blood from his wounds, his fur was almost red. The smallest was a gray female bleeding from many wounds. The third was a night-black male with only a few cuts and bruises.

The two males, after the headlights disappeared around a corner, moved away from the remains of the box. The female tried, but could not move. The black male went back to her. "Karli?" he asked tentatively. "Can you hear me? You have to move; you'll die if you don't." Tears were beginning to stream down his muzzle.

The white male limped over to see what was wrong, saw his sister not moving, and ran as best as he could.

"Boulder, what's wrong with her?" he asked, while tugging on his sister's tail.

"I don't know, she just won't move," Boulder whimpered. "We have to move her to a safer place, we'll all die if we stay here," the white male said while trying to put his sister's body over his neck.

"But where will we go?" Boulder asked while looking around at their surroundings. A large black forest was surrounding them with a menacing river going through it and behind them was the road. When Boulder looked back at his brother he was still trying to pick up Karli. "Tyson, what are you doing? You can't move her by yourself," Boulder went over to his sister, crawled under her, and helped carry her.

"We'll take her to those bushes over there," Tyson motioned with his muzzle to some small thorn bushes.

Once they were under the cover of the bushes, they set Karli down and started to patch up their wounds.

Tyson had a few cuts and one of his legs was twisted in an unnatural angle. Boulder had a large bruise on his forehead which prevented him from opening one of his eyes.

Karli was unconscious, had a gash that was bleeding, and her ear was cut badly.

"Alright the first thing we must do is stop her bleeding I'll go find some moss, you go and look for spider webs," Tyson told his brother.

After a short time, they came back to the bush with all the moss and spider webs they needed.

Tyson put the moss on the wound to stall the bleeding, while Boulder put the spider webs over the moss to hold it in place.

"It won't hold for long, but it will have to do. Maybe someone will find us soon" Tyson mumbled.

"That won't happen were in the middle of nowhere. We'll stay here with her until the morning and then we'll look for help" Boulder stated matter of factually. Tyson went over to his brother, and that's where they stayed.

The next morning Karli was awake and with the help of her brothers she was able to move closer to a puddle just outside of the bush's cover.

"We have to get food soon" Tyson whispered to Boulder during a shift in Karli's watch.

"I know but where will we get it there's nothing around for us to eat" Boulder answered. "There's a chance we could get something from one of the bushes, or if we crossed that black thing we could catch minnows in that stream coming out of it."

"There's no way I'm crossing that thing, it looks dangerous," Tyson said walking over to a berry bush. "I'll just take these to Karli."

Tyson was just about to feed the bright red berries to Karli when Boulder suddenly tensed. Tyson told Karli not to move just as she was about to eat, walked over to a little clearing and sniffed the air. It took him a minute to recognize the smell but when he did it only brought fear. Two large dogs were heading there way, fast. Tyson ran back to Boulder and Karli.

"Boulder there's a group of dogs heading are way, what are we going to do" Tyson gasped out of breath from his injuries and the run. "There's no way we'll be able to hide from them, they've probably smelled us already."

"Alright first we should keep this between you and me until there right in front of us got it. Karli does not need to know it will just stress her out," Boulder pointed out. "Then we'll do whatever we have to do to keep her safe."

Boulder and Tyson brought Karli under the berry bush, with much complainant from her due to the thorns jabbing into their fur. Just as they were safely under the bush the two dogs stepped into the clearing right in front of the pups.

"Come on out we know your here somewhere," The larger of the two called menacingly.

"Oh stop it Jonathan you're probably scaring them," The other dog knelt down on her front legs so she could see under the bush. "It's okay to come out we won't hurt you."

Tyson was the first to come out from their hiding place; he turned around to help Boulder get Karli into the open. Boulder helped Karli stand while Tyson stood ahead of them.

"What do you want? We're not doing anything bad, just trying to protect our sister," Tyson growled puffing up his fur to make him as large as possible to look intimidating.

"Ooh Feisty" Jonathan chuckled with sarcasm. The other dog gave him a look that could kill. "Alright so a patrol saw what happened yesterday and we were told to watch what you did. Lacey here wanted to help but orders are orders."

"Of course I didn't like it leaving you little pups out in the open for an entire night, but we intervened now because you were about to feed her Baneberries. They can kill pups like you" Said Lacey in a nurturing tone.

"Wait does that mean you could have helped us this entire time, but no you had to see what we were doing. Come on were just pups according to you guys what where we going to do, that was so important that you had to wait," Boulder yelled at them.

"Boulder stop that, it's no problem were all safe now right, there's no need to yell" Karli pleadingly croaked.

"Alrighty then now that everything's all figured out let's get moving," Jonathan said impatiently. "We don't have all day; Fang will wonder where we are."

"Oh yea, let's go guys, were going to take you back to The Den," Lacey chattered distractedly.

Tyson and Boulder looked at each other, finding no other option they took Karli between them and reluctantly followed Jonathan. Lacey trailed behind for a bit then walked off into the bushes following the scent of prey.


	3. Chapter 2

**Tyson**

The walk seemed to take forever taking paths and turns every few seconds. It seemed as soon as Tyson thought he knew where they were going they took another turn. Eventually Jonathan stopped at the top of a gorge filled with brambles.

"Okay pups here we are Den sweet Den," Jonathan boasted without even looking at them.

_He must have been dropped as a pup; this is stupid there's nothing down there. This must be a trap what else would it be._ Tyson thought with suspicion. Even though he had his doubts he still trailed down into the gorge. When they got to the brambles he noticed there was more beneath, like the brambles were a roof over the real home. When they passed the brambles the camp seemed to explode with life. From above anyone passing by would neither hear nor see anything below making it the perfect home. Once someone passed the brambles things were much different. There would be dogs walking everywhere, pups squealing for their mothers and others sharing the fresh kill with each other.

"This is amazing. How can all these dogs live peacefully together" Boulder asked aloud when they stopped at the base of a large rock.

"We are one large family staying together for safety" a large voice bellowed from behind them. Karli did not seem to notice but both her brothers tensed in surprise. Slowly Tyson turned around to face the stranger. Before him stood a large, long-furred, black male.

"Moose where have you been. You were gone before we left" Jonathan said completely ignoring the pups.

"So does he think we're just going to stand here while goes off and talks" grunted Boulder. He turned and started to walk away towards a group of pups around the same age.

"What are you doing Boulder what if were supposed to stay here. You can't leave us...please come back" Karli whispered frightened.

Boulder seemed not to hear but slowed down a bit. After a few seconds he almost reluctantly turned back only to face Karli's large eyed, pleading look. He loved his sister too much to walk away again so he shuffled back to them. Karli let out a happy yelp alerting the older dogs to their presence.

"Jonathan how could you have forgotten to introduce me to your little friends here" bellowed Moose.

"Oh yea um this one is..." He said motioned his muzzle in Tyson's direction.

"I'm Tyson my brother here is Boulder and my little sister is Karli" Tyson grunted in annoyance.

"Those are adorable names little ones. Now how old are you" asked a large, black furred female looking as though she would burst under the weight of her unborn pups.

"Beaumont what are you doing out of the nursery you could have those pups any minute now" cautioned an anxious large male following closely behind.

"Fang stop it I will be fine, now I asked these pups here how old they are and you interrupted them" groaned Beaumont.

"We are almost seven large moons old" boasted Karli.

"You are almost old enough to become learners. Right Fang" Beaumont said.

"That's right my belle, now can we please get you back to the nursery," Fang pleaded.

"Would you please stop worrying, I'm fine Kesuk said it would be at least a few more days until the birthing," assured Beaumont.

The three pups all looked at each other trying to find something to say in the awkward situation. When Boulder finally said "With all due respect but we are very tired and would like to rest a bit". Tyson looked at him in awe at his flawless lying.

Beaumont and Fang were still arguing over if she would go to the nursery or not, when she stopped mid-sentence to address Tyson and his siblings "Of course little ones you must be exhausted. Since you have not had your rite of learners yet I will take you to the nursery with me, but tomorrow you will have the ceremony and become part of our large family." Fang looked very relieved until Beaumont said over her shoulder "As soon as you are all settled I will be leaving the nursery to take a walk so if you have any questions feel free to ask Ebony."

When they arrived at the nursery a small, scruffy female approached them. She was accompanied by a gray male who was larger than her even though he was much younger. The male was carrying a bundle of leaves precariously in his mouth. The male had not seen the group walking in to the nursery and ran into Karli dropping the bundle.

"Oh I'm sorry I guess I didn't see you there I didn't mean to make you drop your things," Karli said as she bent down to pick them up.

"No, no it was all my fault I was not paying any attention I should have seen you coming in…your ear's cut let me fix it for you it's the least I could do after running in to you." The male babbled.

Karli was surprised by the offer considering the fact that they were complete strangers and around the leaves in her mouth she mumbled reasons why he did not need to help her.

"Dust show some more respect they just arrived and you are not yet skilled enough to handle that kind of injury and I know that is exactly why you want to take it on. Now apologize and next time you want to practice your learning's on someone at least know their name first." said the female that Dust was accompanying.

"I'm sorry Kesuk I didn't mean it that way I really did want to help her" said Dust.

"Of course you did Dust, just next time leave the big things to me so I can teach you before you rush in" advised Kesuk as she approached Karli.

Kesuk looked at the ear while explaining to Dust what herbs would be needed and what should be done so it heals properly. She took a bundle of yellow leaves between her teeth and chewed them until they became a pulp which she put on Karli's ear. Karli patiently sat and seemed in wonder of what was happening and kept asking questions like what was being put on her and what other herbs there were and what they were used for. When Kesuk was finished she answered all of Karli's questions.

"Okay first the yellow pasty stuff I just put on you was some elderberry and it should help with infection. About your other question there is too much for me to tell you about and don't keep getting injured so you can ask about each plant, we have had a few who have done so" Kesuk answered staring accusingly at Dust. Turning her full attention to Dust exclaimed, "She asks more questions than you do you should learn something from her since you jump in than ask questions." The pair walked away, Kesuk still reprimanding Dust for his impulsive behavior.


End file.
